Join the director of Portland’s Museum of African Culture as he explores the high energy dance music of the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International. Chief Oscar Mokeme makes personal connections between the band’s infectious music, the traditions of his native Nigeria, and the contemporary cultural life of Maine’s growing African community.
Precedes the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International performance at 8 pm.

Elizabeth Streb’s choreography embodies values that appear throughout the history of 20th century dance and performance. Paul Sarvis, Senior Lecturer in Dance Performance at Bowdoin College shows video clips and discusses the work of other artists who have likewise staged extravagant displays of risk and effort and wrestled with the tension between vulnerability and mastery.
Precedes the performance of STREB Extreme Action in Merrill Auditorium at 7 pm.

The Kronos Quartet has defined the cutting edge of contemporary musical performance for more than 30 years. Join Dr. Rob Lehmann, Director of the Strings Program at USM School of Music, as he explores how the Kronos Quartet’s status as one of the world’s leading advocates for new music has re-defined what string quartets can do.
Precedes the performance of Kronos Quartet in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30 pm.

A group of USM Musical Theater majors join Maine singer/actor/musical director Ed Reichert in an informal presentation of some of the original Broadway songs that are lampooned later in the evening in Forbidden Broadway’s raucous show. The presenters also explore the unique sound of Broadway’s greatest performers and discuss why they invite parody.  
Precedes the performance of Forbidden Broadway in Merrill Auditorium at 8 pm.

Composer/performer Dan Sonenberg discusses the story, music, and impact of legendary gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt in the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Precedes the performance of Hot Club of San Francisco in Hannaford Hall at 7:30.

Musicologist and manager of the Olin Arts Center at Bates College, Seth Warner looks at the piano recital as a unique and vital performance medium. How and why has the format of the piano recital developed? Where does the evening’s repertoire of pianist Kirill Gerstein fit in the history and future of this distinctive concert form?
Precedes the performance by Kirill Gerstein in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30pm.

In his action packed lecture, Portland’s capoeira Mestre Joao Bordallo helps us understand the religious, historical, and contemporary vitality of capoeira, a martial art form created by African slaves in Brazil over 400 years ago.
Precedes the performance by Bale Folclorico Da Bahia in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30.

Professor Marilyn Reizbaum from Bowdoin College asks: how did this adaptation of a Sholom Aleichem story set in revolutionary Russia became so wildly popular? Is it a post holocaust fable?  Did setting this story to music create a precursor to the controversial Holocaust “comedy”? Who (or what) is the fiddler?  
Precedes the performance of Fiddler on the Roof in Merrill Auditorium at 7:00 pm.

Dance educator and choreographer Nancy Salmon explores Doug Varone’s work and creative process. Her discussion of Chapters from a Broken Novel, his newest work which was developed in Maine through a co-commission by Portland Ovations and the Bates Dance Festival, includes an overview of the history of modern and post modern dance in Maine.   
Precedes the performance of Doug Varone & Dancers in Merrill Auditorium at 7:30.

Our collaborators from 317 Main Street Community Music Center in Yarmouth present a lecture/demonstration of techniques for learning string instruments in classical or folk/traditional music genres. Their presentation includes a discussion of Mark O’Connor’s influence on the new American school of string playing.
Precedes the performance of the Mark O’Connor Quartet at 8 pm.

Carol and John Farrell from Maine’s renowned Figures of Speech Theatre explore the art form of puppetry with an overview of its different styles and cultural forms, including the emergence of puppets on Broadway and in film. Is the art of puppetry threatened by the business of entertainment?  
Precedes the performance of the Broadway National Tour of Avenue Q at 7:30 pm.

Pianist Laura Kargul presents a lecture/demonstration focusing on how pianists make interpretive decisions. How does a musician prepare? What are the idiomatic approaches to different composers and works? She is joined by student pianists from USM’s School of Music.
Precedes the performance by Nicolai Luganski at 3 pm.

Performance artist/educator Davis Robinson from Bowdoin College discusses the Maine connection to mime, mask, and physical theatre in his lecture focusing on the legacy of two of his mentors, Maine’s Tony Montanaro and the legendary Jacques Lecoq, whose teachings also inspire Imago’s work.
Precedes Imago Theatre’s “Zoozoo” in Merrill Auditorium at 7 pm.

A scholar looks at the evolution and significance of hip-hop theater, and helps us understand its powerful new poly-cultural performance language.
Precedes performance of Universes: Live From the Edge at 8 pm.

Join the Artistic Director of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players Albert Bergeret for an overview of Gilbert & Sullivan, their process of creating this work, and the company’s success in keeping The Mikado new and fresh for audiences of all ages.
Precedes the performance of The Mikado at 4 pm.

In this lively lecture/demonstration, step-dancers/educators Cindy Larock and Laura Scott explore the interrelated French, Scottish, and Irish roots of Gadelle’s distinctive French-Acadian music and dance. Fiddler Ed Pearlman provides the musical accompaniment as Cindy and Laura expand our understanding of the role of traditional music and dance in the lives of Maine’s French Canadian community.
Precedes the performance of Gadelle at 8 pm.

USM professor and composer-in-residence Dan Sonenberg talks with composer Phil Kline about his adventurous masterwork John the Revelator, a powerful 21st century mass created for  the early music vocal sextet Lionheart, string quartet, and pipe organ and inspired by early American hymns, the writings of Samuel Beckett and poet David Shapiro, shape-note singing, and the events of 9/11.
Precedes the performance of John the Revelator at 3 pm.